An Examination of the Cognitive, Personality, and Social Components Associated with Gender Differences in Rates of Depression

• Main Author: Felton, Julia Widney
• Other Authors: Daniel Rock
• Format: Others
• Language: en
• Published: VANDERBILT 2011
• Subjects: Psychology
• Online Access: http://etd.library.vanderbilt.edu/available/etd-12012011-104230/

The current study examined risk factors for the development of depression during childhood and adolescence in boys and girls, including personality, social, and cognitive variables. One hundred and fifty-seven male and 206 female students in grades 5 through 9 completed self-report questionnaires about sex role identification, rumination, co-rumination, and depression and two time points, four months apart. Results suggest being female-identified predicted increases in level of depression. Our findings also indicate that both co-rumination and depression drove changes in tendency to ruminate over time. Contrary to previous literature, we did not find that rumination or co-rumination predicted changes in depression. We discuss these findings in the context of the emergent gender difference in rates of depression during adolescence.